A Little Less 16 Candles, a Little More 'Touch Me'
by communique
Summary: Cho's seeking the attention of a certain Cedric Diggory, and when Cho asks her good friend Mandy Chambers to help her with the objective, a twist in fate leaves Cedric Diggory's thoughts to be aimed at someone other than Cho. Horrid summary, I apologise.
1. Chess and Cedric

**A/N - Mandy Chambers is a mix between two names referred to by JK Rowling in her books, therefore I technically don't own the character, nor any other characters in this story. Alas. **

**This is my first story published on ff… So, don't bite my head off if you don't like it. **

**This is based in Cedric's 6th year, there won't be a Triwizard tournament, because I don't want Cedric to die. Enough said. **

**I feel it's a bit slow at the beginning, but I promise, it picks up! Thanks for reading. **

**-Hailey**

* * *

She sat perched on the edge of her bed, faint smiles drifting across her face as she sifted through all of her old photographs. Her sleeves were pushed over her elbows as she dug down into all the old memories. She held each memory briefly into her hands before dropping them onto the pile in her lap and searching for the next happy moment to remember.

"Hello there my dearest friend, aren't we looking marvellous today?" Mandy Chambers glanced up from her moving photos and into the dark eyes of her best friend, Cho Chang who had just gracefully walked into the room. "You realize I got up about a half hour ago right?" "Yes, as I left about forty minutes ago for brekkie and you were still sound asleep."

Mandy picked up a more recent photograph from her pile and glanced at it, and then lifted her eyes from the photo to her friend. "Cho do you remember this?" Cho reached out her delicate hands and held the photo, her eyes scanning over the moving picture.

It was a recent photo, taken about two weeks ago, of Mandy and Cho grinning madly at the camera with mud all over their bodies, clad in their Quidditch robes, and arms slung around each other. Cho grinned and looked back up to the light blue eyes of her friend. "Haha! I had been waiting for you to show me these. The Ravenclaw v. Slytherin match!"

Mandy and Cho had been friends ever since their first year of Hogwarts. They had been sorted into the same house, and became inseparable ever since. Mandy was a Chaser for the Ravenclaw team ever since her 3rd year at Hogwarts, the same year Cho was selected as Ravenclaw seeker.

Mandy was by no means as popular as Cho, Cho carried a far larger amount of confidence than Mandy, but Mandy's shyness and Cho's outgoing nature complimented the other well.

Mandy was the type of girl who was pretty, but had no idea about it. She didn't wear make-up, except for the once-in-a-while mascara and Chap Stick. But other than that, Mandy couldn't really be bothered.

Mandy had a little longer than shoulder-length blonde hair, and light blue eyes. She had a very fair complexion, and Cho often teased her of her "near transparency and her likeness to an albino" as Cho kindly put it.

Mandy was more boyish than anything, growing up with two older brothers was what had sparked her interests in sports, especially Quidditch. Because of Mandy's akin to sports, she had an athletic body, and hardly had any breasts at all.

Mandy could recall a time when Mandy was changing in the team room… As Mandy was putting on her sports bra Cho looked at her and said with a smile on her face, "Why Mandy, surely it would be better if you used something that would better hold your little tatties than a sports bra? Here I have two extra band-aides that I think will better fit you." Despite the teasing, Mandy and Cho were still best friends.

"So Mandy…. You remember me coming in here and saying how marvelous you looked right?" "Mmhmm I do recall, and I also remember you saying how I was your dearest friend." Cho and Mandy locked eyes as neither of them spoke.

Mandy broke the staring contest when a smile broke out onto her face. "So what is it that you want from me now? My Weird Sisters t-shirt?" Cho let out a giggle. "Nothing like that no." Cho adjusted her position on Mandy's bed and crossed her legs "Indian style" (a/n I apologise for my political incorrect-ness) and looked eagerly into her friends eyes.

"You know Cedric Diggory correct?" "Ah, the Golden Boy of Hogwarts, Mister Righteous." Mandy said, not attempting in the least bit to hide her sarcasm. Cho sighed. "Yes, Cho, I'm very well aware of who he is. We've been playing Quidditch against him for the past two years."

"Okay then, well now that we've gotten that out of the way… I wanted to ask you a favour." Cho said pleadingly. "Remember, I don't do any sexual favours, so I'm sorry that I can't help you out in that area" Mandy joked. Cho replied with a toss of a pillow aimed for Mandy's head. It landed about three feet away from the target. "And that my friend," Mandy said with a grin spread across her face "is why you're a seeker and not a chaser. You aim like a blind person." Cho shook her head in exasperation.

"Anyway! If you would just listen… I don't want any "sexual favours" I want you to help me out for a night. You see, I'm quite keen on Cedric-" At this Mandy began to grow a large grin on her face. Cho noticed, and said "Gah! Just let me bloody finish will you… you gonk!" Mandy giggled. "Mate, what the hell is a gonk?" She said while laughing.

Cho felt heat rush up her neck and permeated throughout her face and to the tips of her ears. "C'mon you have to know what a gonk is… it's those things you win at the fair, it's a toilet role covered in fur, with those little plastic eyes!"

"Don't get your knickers in a twist mate, I was only joking! I'm sorry, continue with your love story about Ceddy." "His name's not Ceddy! Urgh! Anyways, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted." At this Mandy rolled her eyes.

"Cedric asked me if I would accompany him to Hogsmeade tomorrow, but apparently his friend Landon Cadwallader, a seeker on the Hufflepuff team, is also coming… so Cedric asked if maybe I could bring one of my friends. So I automatically thought of you."

Mandy looked into the pleading eyes of her friends. "Cho, you know I don't like double dates, or blind dates… or dates at all if you will…" Cho's brown eyes dug into Mandy's blue eyes.

Finally Mandy let out a sigh. "Okay, okay I'll go. You better remember this in the future if I ever need anything from you!" Cho flung her arms around her friend "thank you thank you! I'll never forget this you're so fantastic!"

"No need reminding me Cho, I know I am" Mandy said mockingly. "You and you're egotism. If only the rest of Hogwarts knew what a narcissist you were." "Ah, if only… however where would the mystery be if everyone knew my little secret?" Cho rolled her eyes, something that had become a bad habit ever since their first encounter.

"C'mon" Mandy said whilst rising from her bed. "I'm challenging you to a game of wizard's chess. Prepare to be dominated my friend." "You better be able to back up that large mouth of yours. Don't cry when I murder your sorry little arse." Cho followed her friend down the stairs into the common room to commence their "friendly" game of wizards chess, the thoughts of tomorrow swimming in their 16-year-old minds.


	2. Lunch Time Chats

"You devilish little wanker! How in the bloody name of the bloody sodding Baron did you manage to get my king? Tosser!" Mandy said, absolutely fuming as she was disbelievingly looking at her king. "Enough of the language mate; I have skill, talent…" Cho teasingly chimed as her friend was growing red across the table, her king demolished into tiny little pieces.

"I thought I had you… ah well… nice game anyway. Well played." Mandy encouragingly smiled at her friend. Despite Mandy's anger-lapses, she always managed to recuperate herself. Some would call this "mood swings" or "bipolar."

"And to you as well Manders." At this, Mandy felt a firm grip on her shoulder. "Yes Manders, I wanted to know if I could have a quick word with you." Mandy looked up into the deep blue eyes of Roger Davies, Quidditch captain and fellow chaser. "Roger…" Mandy began as she gently lifted Roger's hand from her shoulder. "You know how I don't like that little nick name." Roger grinned like a mad man despite Mandy's remark.

"Alright then, do you mind a quick moment alone then?" Mandy sighed. "No I suppose not, I'll be right back Cho." Cho nodded her head with a small smile as Mandy got up from her chair and followed Roger into an intimate corner in the common room. "I actually have two things to discuss with you." Roger said while focusing his gaze on Mandy's eyes, which happened to be concentrated on the wall paper pattern behind Roger's head.

He continued, "I have a new idea for a manoeuvre for Quidditch which I think will really help us out in our match against Gryffindor next weekend. It's called the "Porskoff Ploy," where one of us makes as if to dart upward with the Quaffle, into turn drawing the opposing chaser upwards, and then dropping to another Chaser… it's extremely effective, Bulgaria used it quite often in the World Cup.

Another is called the Woollongong Shimmy... I quite like that one. But I'll tell you more about that on our practice Monday night. "

Mandy attempted to look as interested as possible in what her captain was saying, but she kept her a buzzing sound in her head.

"So anyway, what I really wanted to discuss with you was Hogsmeade tomorrow." At the mention of Hogsmeade, Mandy looked from the wall paper to the eyes of Roger. "I don't know if you have plans…" he continued. "But I wanted to know if you would like to accompany me perhaps?" Mandy noticed the red creeping up Roger's neck.

A sympathetic smile played on Mandy's face. "I'm sorry Roger, but I'm already going with someone else. Perhaps next time though?" Roger's eyes dropped, "yea yea, that would be good. Well, I'll see you around Chambers."

And at that Roger turned and made his way to his dormitory. Mandy sighed and made her way to Cho. "So… what happened?" Cho inquired. "Roger asked me to Hogsmeade."

Cho's facial expression turned to one of question to concerned. "Oh no! I'm sorry you could've said yes, I could've found someone else to go with me to Hogsmeade!" "Hey, don't worry about it. I don't fancy Roger anymore. I kind of got over him a while back. I thought we established a plain friendship. Ah well. You always want what you can't have and you never want what you have." Mandy said thoughtfully.

"Well said mate, well said." Cho responded. Silence fell upon the two friends, until a "LUNCH TIME LASSIES GET YOUR ARSES TO THE DINING HALL!" Erupted from Mandy's wrist.

Her brother bought her an "Interactive wrist watch which tells time and shouts at you!" watch thing. Mandy had been too lazy to replace the watch with another which didn't shout insults at her constantly.

"Well." Cho said, getting up from her chair. "I think we should listen to your watch and make our way to the dining hall… I'm famished!" Mandy nodded her head. "I concur." And with that they left for the dining hall.

They entered through the large doors and made their way to the Ravenclaw table, placing themselves among their peers. They immediately dug into the chicken dinner lying on the table.

"I'm so excited for tomorrow!" Cho exclaimed. "Meee twoo" Mandy nodded in response, with a mouth full of bangers and mash. "Ew. You are a gross little woman aren't you? I wish your parents taught you better table manners when you were younger, maybe you'd have more dinner requests if you weren't such a lad." Cho said, with a wrinkled nose and a disgusted look upon her face. Mandy swallowed. "I resent that." Mandy said whilst mocking Cho's posture.

"I apologise for not being a posh prude like yourself. Or Draco Malfoy." Mandy said while shifting her gaze from her friend to a certain albino-looking boy across the room who was surrounded by his cronies, a sneer permanently glued to his face. Mandy involuntarily shook her head with pity. Cho smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

"So you guys excited for our first Hogsmeade visit tomorrow or what?" Justin Finch-Fletchley inquired from across the table. "Ah yes, Hogsmeade. A time for Quintapeds to migrate from Isle of Drear to feast upon the wizarding race." The group of Ravenclaws went silent and shifted their eyes to a small, crazy looking third year. Mandy recognised her as "Loony Lovegood."

Mandy decided to break the awkward silence. "All the way from the Isle of Drear eh?" "Indeed." Luna replied, gazing knowingly into a far-off distance, her glasses successfully making her look like a mad person. "Well, as far as I know, the Isle of Drear is un-plottable, so surely the… Quintapeds? Won't be able to actually reach us. Well, besides the unplottability, we're also a couple hundred miles away from the Isle of Drear." Mandy said. "You poor, poor girl" Luna said, placing her palm on Mandy's cheek.

"If you only knew. But you have to be so ignorant, don't you… don't you?" Mandy stared blankly at Luna for a little while, wondering when she was going to remove her hand from Mandy's face. The rest of the group were either attempting to suppress their giggles or were too dumbfounded by this lunatic (hehe no pun intended) to actually express emotion. Luckily Luna removed her hand and returned it to the pages of _The Quibbler_.

"So…" Justin continued. "Hogsmeade?" "Yea! Cedric, Landon, Mandy and I are going to go together. A double-date if you will." Cho said excitedly. Mandy groaned. "Sounds like a fantastic time!" Justin responded. "Oh, oh boy will it be a fantastic time. A day full of ego…. Joy!" Mandy said sarcastically. Justin laughed, and Cho rolled her eyes.

"So what are your plans Justin?" Cho inquired whilst lifting her fork full of mashers into her mouth. "I'm going with Terry Boot and Anthony Goldstein, should be fun I'm thinking." Cho and Mandy nodded their heads.

The group finished their meal, and began to leave the table. Before Mandy and Cho were able to climb the stairs to their common room, a booming "Cho!" was heard from behind them. They both turned and laid their eyes on Cedric Diggory, whose cheeks were pinkish and chest heaving. He obviously had sprinted to catch up to them.

"We're still on for tomorrow?" He inquired with a goofy grin on his face. Cho returned the grin. "Of course!" He met them at the bottom of the stairs. "Oh! Cedric this is Mandy Chambers, a good friend of mine who's going to be accompanying us tomorrow."

Cedric adjusted his gaze from Cho to Mandy. Cedric politely smiled and held out his hand. Mandy obligingly shook it. "Ah yes! I recognise you. A chaser correct? Well done last match against Slytherin! I'm looking forward to next weekends match against Gryffindor. Should be pretty good." Mandy grinned, despite her modesty, she loved praises.

"Yea, I'm really looking forward to it." Cedric held his gaze for a little while longer before turning back to Cho. "Well, I best be off, I'll see you to lasses at 11 in the courtyard. Cho nodded her head excitedly. Cedric gave the two girls one last of his signature grins and headed down the hall.

"He's fantastic isn't he?" Cho asked, a goofy grin still playing on her face. "I wouldn't go to that extreme. He seems alright I suppose." Cho sighed in exasperation. "We sure have a huge difference in our preferences for boys don't we?" Mandy smiled. "Yes, we really do. I go for boys who focus on studies, not boys who focus on their hair longer than I do." Cho laughed. "Mandy, you never spend more than a minute on your hair in the morning. Did you even brush it this morning?" Mandy laughed. "I can't remember if I did actually." Cho shook her head as the two girls walked through the entryway into their common room and up the stairs to their dormitory.

The rest of the day consisted on finishing up their homework and goofing around, eager for the next day. Well, Cho more than Mandy, but they were still quite eager.


	3. Hogsmeade

**Disclaimer: If I was JK Rowling, do you honestly think I would be writing here? Most likely not. I would probably be spending my time in my huge mansion. But no, I'm in my dorm room. And as a 17 year old girl, not one with kids.**

**A/N- Another Chapter! Please R&R I appreciate feedback! Hope you all like the chapter!**

**-Hailey**

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Mandy was lying in bed peacefully when a loud "Up! Up! Hogsmeade today! Get up you big ogre!" followed by a pull back of the curtains surrounding her four poster bed. Mandy slowly opened her eyes, shading the bright sunlight from her eyes that was pouring through the tower windows. "I resent that." Cho ignored her friend and smiled. She picked up a pillow and smacked Mandy playfully over the side of the head.

"C'mon please! You have a half hour to get ready! Go fast pleeeeeeeeeease we don't want to be late for our dates!" "I'm not going on a date. I don't fancy Cedric, nor Landon Caldwall-whatever…. Nor you for that matter."

Cho began shaking Mandy restlessly. "Get off me woman!" and with that Mandy shoved Cho off her bed. Cho landed with a big "Urff!" "Tosser." "Wanker." Mandy looked up from her pillow and smiled deviously. "Fine, fine my little poppet I'll get up and let you have mad hot sex with Ceddy in the broom cupboard at the three broomsticks."

With that Mandy lifted herself up from her bed and made her way to her dresser, opening the drawers to find something somewhat decent to way for the day's events. "You're a bloody git you realise that don't you?" "Only when I want to be luv, only when I want to be."

Mandy lifted a navy blue Lacoste jumper from one of her drawers, examining it and putting it up to her chest. "You reckon I should wear this with some jeans?" she inquired. "It's all wrinkled. You never take care of your clothes do you? Your parents are so generous yet you throw all of your clothes into a drawer. It's called be ungrateful!" "No sweetheart, it's called being lazy." Cho rolled her eyes.

Mandy raised her wand and pointed it at the garment. "Kerphein!" She said with a small flick of her wand. Immediately the jumper was free of wrinkles. "Brilliant. This, my dear friend, is why I throw my clothes into my drawer, because I can just use magic."

Cho shook her head in annoyance. "Just hurry okay? I'm sure the lads are waiting for us now." Mandy quickly ran to the shower and came back about 10 minutes later, clad in her jeans and jumper. She did a quick spell to dry her hair, letting it fall into loose curls, a charm one of her friends had taught her. She quickly did her mascara and grabbed her purse and made her way out the door with Cho.

"Do I look okay?" Cho said worridly as she smoothed out the wrinkles in her shirt. "You look fantastic Cho, you really do." "Thanks for the reassurance. Goodness I'm so nervous!" "Deep breaths. I'm sure everything will be fine." Cho nodded her head but looked edgy despite the encouraging words.

The two girls made their way to the courtyard, looking around in hopes to spot the two boys they were looking for. Mandy became preoccupied with the leg of her jeans which had been caught on a nearby suit of armour. "Damnit. Bloody trousers never bloody cooperating!"

Cho was about to help Mandy when a booming voice called her name over the swarm of Hogwarts students. Cho's face immediately lit up as she met the gaze of Cedric Diggory. Mandy, not being a part of this romantic encounter, was still trying desperately to remove her jeans from the suit of armour.

"This bloody suit is molesting me!" Landon and Cedric let out a chuckle as they watched Mandy attempt to free herself from the predator. Finally Cedric decided to be nice and help her out. He reached down and yanked her jeans from the suit and stood up, looking into Mandy's eyes. Mandy swallowed.

"Thanks, I thought I was going to be attached to a suit of armour for the rest of my life." "No problem. I don't think we've properly met, I'm Cedric Diggory, and this is Landon Cadwallader, a good friend of mine." Mandy shook their hands. "I'm Mandy Chambers, good to meet you."

"Well, should we head off now?" Cedric asked. Cho excitedly nodded her head. "Sure!" Cedric held out his arm for Cho to take, and she obligingly moved her arm to fit into his arm.

Mandy looked from the couple to Landon and back down to her feet. "Awkward…." Mandy said under her breath. She looked from her trainers to Landon, who was staring at her. "Awkward is an understatement." Mandy smiled, already liking this boy.

"Well at least we're helping out our mates right?" He asked. "Yea I suppose, but you realize they're going to be ogling each other for the remainder of the day right?" Landon let out a small laugh. "Yea, I figured enough."

Landon and Mandy were walking behind Cho and Cedric, who were holding hands in front of them. "You look lovely today Cho." Could be heard from ahead of them. Mandy grinned. "Blandae mendacia linguae." Landon looked at Mandy. "I beg your pardon?" "Blandae mendacia linguae, the lies of a flattering tongue. I'm referring it to Cedric's comment.

"Oh! I was so confused there for a second. I though you sneezed or something… You know Latin?" He inquired. "Yea, I took it for a couple of years when I was in prep school." "What prep school did you go to?" "It's actually called Fettes College; it's a school in Edinburgh, Scotland. My family's English, which explains my accent." She added as she noted the perplexed look playing on Landon's face.

"You went to a school in Edinburgh? I went to Merchiston!" Merchiston, was a school only a few kilometres away from Fettes, and also rival schools. "Ha! You're a Merchi boy! What are the odds eh?" Cedric held the door open for them as they walked through the doorway in the Three Broomsticks. "And you a Fettes bee. Miss Posh… Hey Ced! You won't believe it! Mandy went to Fettes!" "No way! My mum went to St. Georges, the all girls' school a few blocks from Fettes. Small world eh?"

"I miss good ol' Scotland. Floreas Fettesia!" Mandy chimed as she took her seat next to Cedric and Landon in an intimate booth in the corner of the Three Broomsticks. "May you flourish Fettes. How gripping." Cedric said sarcastically. "Hey now, you're mum went to St. Georges, and we know what kind of reputations those girls hold! Their wee kilts hemmed right below their little arses." Mandy joked. "Hey! My mum was not a prostitute!" "Did I say anything about a prostitute? Touchy are we?"

"Alright, alright enough! Let's all get along now." Cho said while carrying four butterbeers in her hands. Mandy immaturely stuck her tongue out at Cedric, and surprisingly he mimicked her actions.

"Thanks Cho for the drinks. I appreciate our friendship." Mandy said whilst licking off the cream from her top lip after her sip of the liquid. "I'm sure you do."

The rest of the day consisted of chatting about Quidditch and music. When the conversation began to fade, a member of the group would bring up Quidditch and the conversation would be booming again. When sitting at the table, Mandy felt someone graze her leg. She casually glanced under the table. Cedric's knee was placed right next to her leg. She looked to Cedric, who seemed unaware and occupied with the conversation.

Mandy decided to ignore it, but found it a difficult task seeing how Cedric didn't remove his leg from that position for the remainder of their time spent at the Three Broomsticks.

Not that she really minded in the first place.


	4. Zonko's and banter

A/n –Thanks a bunch to all of the wonderful reviewers, I do really appreciate you taking the time to comment on my story! I really hope you've enjoyed it so far.

I've also added another story- titled "Love Letters" it still involves Cedric, as he's a total fitty, so if you have the time please check it out! I'll update that story more if I know people are actually reading it.

I'm going to be gone this weekend for a weekend-long field hockey tournament in Oxford, so I won't be able to update until Sunday night or Monday. I do apologise!

Enough of my random banter, here's the next chapter!

Oh- and sorry about the mistake earlier, I accidentally added a part of the next chapter previously. Everything's sorted, sorry again!

The four students finished their drinks, and decided to visit other stores. First on their list was Zonko's joke shop.

They made their way through the milling crowd, often dodging out of the way of determined shoppers. Cedric and Cho managed to get ahead of Landon and Mandy once again, leaving the two with no choice but to hold a conversation. However, Landon seemed to hold the same interests as Mandy, making it far easier to communicate between each other.

"Okay, so which is better, the Weird Sisters…. Or… Celestina Warbeck?" Landon inquired. "Weird Sisters by a milestone! I don't like sappy music. I like the up-beat head-banging, heart-wrenching type of music." Landon let out a smile. "I'd have to agree whole heartedly with you on that one."

Snow was falling softly on the town of Hogsmeade, being late-October the winds were picking up and blew the orange and yellow leaves into a whirlwind that were whipping around in the tiny streets.

Mandy let out a small shiver, cursing herself for not bringing a jacket. Landon noticed this, and carelessly removed his jacket from his broad shoulders and placed it delicately around Mandy's smaller shoulders. "Thanks." Mandy said, smiling graciously into Landon's deep brown eyes. Landon returned the smile. "Don't worry about it."

The students identified the familiar building, although an outsider would be able to recognise a Zonko's joke shop due to its eclectic façade, an appearance far different from the neighbouring shops on the High Street.

Mandy made her way over to the "Ever-Bashing Boomerangs" and the Belch powder displayed near the entrance, and close to the Fanged Frisbees and Dungbombs. Landon accompanied her to the displays, and began examining the items carefully; afraid something would either explode or bite him. Despite his carefulness, a fanged Frisbee snarled and bit his hand. A small yelp erupted from his lips, in turn creating a laugh from Mandy's observance of the situation.

"Hey!" Landon said, rubbing his sore hand. "That really hurt. It's not everyday a good lad like myself almost gets killed by a Frisbee." "I'm sorry, I wish I could kiss it better, but I'm not too keen on blood." She replied sarcastically. Landon looked down at his hand again, coming to the realisation that blood was beginning to surface from the bites. Landon's face turned a little green. "I'm not too keen on blood either."

Mandy gave a supportive smile, and pulled out her wand, directing it at the injured hand. **"Finsky!" **Mandy stepped back, admiring her handy work. The cut on Landon's hand was completely sealed. Landon looked from his repaired hand to Mandy, giving an appreciate smile. "Hey, thanks!" "No problem." Mandy responded.

The two students stood in awkward silence for what seemed like a myriad of seconds. With each tick of the clock on the West wall, the odd tension seemed to grow, but was quickly evaporated as Cho and Cedric made their way over to them. Both Cedric and Cho were sporting shopping bags, with "Zonko's" written in a cluttered manner. Cedric and Cho each had inane looks of pleasure etched onto their faces.

Cedric looked expectantly at the two. "So, you guys going to buy anything or what?" "Uh.. yea… I am." Mandy said in a dazed manner. She quickly grabbed an "Ever-Bashing Boomerang" and a sack full of Belch powder and made her way over to the till, taking the reluctant Cho with her by the arm. "Hey! What are you doing?" Cho demanded under her breath so as not to draw attention from Cedric and Landon, who were chatting amongst themselves.

Mandy swiftly threw her items onto the counter and pulled out her purse in order to pay for the items. While she was pulling out her galleons, she roughly uttered to Cho "when are we going to be over with this little "date?" It's getting even more discomforting between Landon and me. I truly think that Landon believes I fancy him or something. I mean, he's quite fit but…" She placed the galleons on the counter as the witch at the till gave her an impatient cough. "I really don't have that sort of attraction towards him." Cho looked from Landon to Mandy, who had her eyes worriedly fixed on Cho.

"Don't you think you're being slightly rash? I mean, maybe you're jumping to conclusions, how do you really know that he thinks you fancy him?" Mandy tapped her foot impatiently. "Because! I can just tell okay?" Cho rolled her eyes. "Fine then, Landon thinks you're madly in love with him and thinks that you want to have his babies. Life is throwing lemons at you, and you don't know how to make lemonade."

Mandy looked quizzically at Cho. "What the hell are you ranting on about? What do lemons have to do with my situation?" Cho looked impatiently at her friend. "It's a comparison to how you're acting!" "Well isn't that a hasty generalization? Life isn't giving me lemons, it's giving me problems." Mandy said with a smirk plastered onto her face. Cho returned the smirk. "You're such a cheeky little munter." Mandy placed her arm through Cho's. "And yet you're still friends with me. Funny."

Cedric and Landon ended their conversation as Cho and Mandy approached the two. "Ready to go?" Cedric asked, looking at Mandy. Cho nodded enthusiastically, and the four headed out onto the High Street.

This time it was Cho and Landon who lagged behind, and they were talking animatedly with each other over Quidditch, having just passed a newspaper stand with the current standings, Landon was arguing about how Puddlemere United was going to thrash the Ballycastle Bats in the next match, much to Cho's annoyance, who was a huge Bats fan. Hence, the beginning of the conversation.

This left Mandy and Cedric in the company of each other, and for a few moments they walked in silence through the winding and crowded streets of the winter-kissed Hogsmeade.

"So." Cedric said softly, visible air materialising from his mouth. "So." Mandy said in response. "I found it quite odd that we've never spoken previously despite our knack for Quidditch. I apologise for asking, but have we been in any classes together?" Mandy nodded her head. "I was thinking the same. I'm pretty sure we were in the same Herbology class in Third Year, because I distinctly remember a blond-haired boy being attacked by a miniature whomping willow and thinking it was absolutely hilarious. Cedric gave a small smile. "Ha, yea I do remember that actually, I had to be in the hospital wing for three days because I had such nasty marks on my skin. Bloody trees."

Mandy smiled up at him, and he met her gaze. Mandy quickly broke the eye contact by pretending to see something interesting off in the distance. Cedric gave a small, and awkward, cough, as if to shrug off the previous encounter entirely.

The deafening silence between Cedric and Mandy was immediately interrupted when a thunderous yell of "Oy! Get up to the castle you tosser or you're going to be late for check-in! Get a move on you silly git!" Both Cedric and Mandy jumped, both stricken with overwhelming surprise. "What in the name of the Bloody Baron was that?" Cedric asked, looking slightly flustered. Mandy could feel her cheeks blush from utter embarrassment.

"That's my watch that my brother gave me for my birthday a while ago, I haven't gotten around to replacing it yet." She said as her face slowly turned redder by the second. "So you're watch shouts insults at you in order to encourage you to get to a certain place on time?" Cedric asked in comical disbelief. "Yea, that's a good way of putting it." Cedric chuckled to himself.

"You're certainly an interesting girl Mandy." And with that, the four trudged through the blankets of snow and towards the picturesque scene of the snow-covered castle, with Cho and Landon still engrossed in their heavy debate over the next Quidditch match, unaware of the thoughts swimming through their two friend's minds.


	5. Potions

**A/N – Hey there readers! I'm back from my tournament, where we didn't really do as well as I wished but ah well.**

**Here's the new chapter, hope you enjoy it! Thanks again to all my reviewers, I do appreciate comments on my writing/story. So please, review! It will only help me write this story better!**

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The next day Cho and Mandy were sitting in their potions class, cutting up their ingredients under the watchful eyes of Professor Snape.

"Bloody Snape, I hate these damned potions that we have to make, and on pointless topics too! I mean, who really needs to know "The process of concocting a potion which leaves the drinker in a dazed and confused state." I mean, couldn't you just save an hour of your time and hit them over the side of the head with a cauldron?"

Cho let out a snort. "I suppose, but remember, this is Snape. He'll do anything to waste our time." Mandy looked up from her textbook, where her gaze fell upon Snape, who was watching Mandy and Cho out of the corner of his eye, a look of pure distaste playing on his pale face.

The two girls carefully cut, poured and mixed their ingredients for the next ten minutes. "So Mandy, you and Landon hit it off pretty well the other day I noticed."

Mandy ceased her cutting and set the lovage onto the table and looked up at her friend. "I suppose, I mean, he's a nice bloke and all, but I didn't get to know him all that well."

Cho nodded her head, pouring in the scurvy-grass she had just cut.

"So, what about Cedric then eh? Is he all the man you expected him to be?" Cho elbowed her friend in the stomach, causing Mandy to double over and let out a rather odd-sounding grunt. "Ow!" Mandy finally managed to get out, her hand still massaging the place where Cho had hit her.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to hit you that hard. I thought you were using some form of sexual innuendo." Cho said, with a look of sympathy on her face.

"I was." Mandy replied with a smirk on her face, causing her friend's eyes to grow in shock.

"You are so pervy. I swear! You're just as bad as the boys who go and look at that… oh what's that damned thing called…?"

"Wicked Witches?" Mandy said, biting her lip in pure amusement.

"Yes! Yes that's the one, that silly little porn magazine that the lads drool over when… hey!" Cho's eyes began to get even bigger, and looked back to her friend. "How do you know about that magazine Mandy?"

Mandy smiled at her friend. "I have two older brothers; I've found them lying around our house a few times when I was cleaning."

Cho examined Mandy, not knowing what to say. Cho then sat down in her stool and moved a little closer to where Mandy was standing, who was still attempting to cut the lovage.

Cho was just sitting there, obviously trying to decide how to structure her next sentence.

"So…have you looked through it at all?" Cho said finally, eyes wide and curiosity and a slight embarrassment written on her face.

"I beg your pardon?" Mandy said, a small smile appearing on her lips, fully aware of what her friend just asked. "Oh stop with the gallivanting!" Cho said exasperatedly, clearly annoyed with her friend.

"You know, have you ever flipped through those magazines before?" Cho finished. Mandy could tell her friend was quite flustered.

"I may have…" She began teasingly. "I mean, I'm a curious teen, and it was just _lying_ there…." Mandy looked back at her friend, who was playing with the hem of her robes.

Mandy was about to open her mouth again when Snape yelled from across the room. "Chang! Chambers! I will not tolerate silly conversations in my class. 20 points from Ravenclaw."

Snape gave the two girls a nasty look, and dramatically tossed his robes as he went over to examine the girls' potion. "Hmm…" Snape mumbled, carefully inspecting the potion. Mandy and Cho just sat there, waiting for Snape to either:

Yell at them for not doing the potion correctly

Give them a rather nasty sneer when he finds they did it correctly

Or

take another twenty house points from them if either of the previous options occur

"Well, it seems you have actually followed the procedure correctly…" He began. "However I do NOT tolerate smugness Chambers! Another twenty points from Ravenclaw."

Mandy wiped the look of satisfaction off her face. Around the room the other Ravenclaws where giving them rather malicious looks due to the fact that Mandy and Cho managed to deduct a total of forty points from their house in the time span of forty minutes.

"You realise that's a total of a point being deducted every minute don't you?" Mandy and Cho looked from Snape to the table to the left of them, where Marietta Edgecomb was glaring at them with a vicious look on her face.

"Oh well done Marietta, you can count. I would've thought the disgusting amount of hair products and chemicals you pour onto your mop every morning would have some type of nasty effect on your logic." Marietta gave Mandy another spiteful look, but nevertheless returned to her potion.

Cho let out a small giggle. "She's such a nasty little munter isn't she?" She said, pouring the potion in a little vile, carefully sealing the tiny bottle.

Mandy nodded her head in agreement. "She's just so minging. Her hair could rival that of Snape's." At this, both Mandy and Cho looked at their Professor, who was in the midst of yelling at another Gryffindor student.

Snape briefly removed himself from his yelling and said "Class dismissed! Now get out of my sight!"

Mandy and Cho cleared their cauldron and counter, and brought their labelled potion to the front of the room, placing it on their professor's desk. They quickly made their way out of the room, eager to get to the dining hall to have lunch.

They only managed to get up the stairs from the dungeons when someone grabbed Cho's wrist. Both of the girls turned around and met the eyes of Cedric Diggory, who was panting slightly from his attempt to reach them.

Cedric released Cho's wrist, and greeted the two with a smile. Mandy noticed Cho's rigidness and blush that was appearing on her face.

Cedric looked at Mandy, causing Mandy to mimic Cho's reaction.

"So, I take it you two are off to grab some lunch?" Mandy and Cho nodded.

"Yea, we're quite hungry, especially after the what-seemed-like-forever potions lesson." Mandy said, knowing it would take Cho a little while before she could make out a sentence. For some odd reason, Cho got slightly nervous when interacting with the opposite sex.

Well actually that was a total lie, but apparently Cho picked up the habit of being nervous upon interacting with Cedric.

Cedric let out a small laugh. "Yea, Snape does seem to have that affect on people doesn't he?"

There was a slightly awkward silence, where Mandy and Cedric were having a staring contest, and Cho was occupied with the hem of her robes and something that was on the stone floor.

Cedric let out a small cough. "So, Mandy, I actually wanted to have a quick chat with you, if you don't mind Cho."

Cho shook her head, removing her eyes from the floor and focusing on Cedric. "Not at all, I'll save you a seat at the table Mandy."

She gave the two a small smile and left them standing in the middle of the hallway.

Mandy looked at Cedric expectantly, who seemed to be content with playing with his fingers.

Mandy decided to break the silence.

"So, you wanted to talk to me?" She inquired.

This seemed to release Cedric from his reverie, where he nodded in response.

"Yes, I did. I've been talking with Landon and I wanted to tell you that he's quite keen on you. I didn't know if maybe you wanted to meet him in the library tonight? He was a bit embarrassed to talk to you himself."

"So Landon fancies me. Fantastic." She thought to herself. "Eh, what can I lose?"

She finished her talk with her mind, and looked back to Cedric.

"Yea of course, what time did he want to meet me?" She asked.

Cedric looked quite surprised by her answer, Mandy thought that he probably expected her to say no or something.

"About 7:30, following dinner." He replied.

"Alright thanks Cedric, I appreciate it."

Cedric moved his hand through his hair, looking at Mandy. He let his hand drop back to his side.

"Yea, no problem." He said with a small smile.

The two found themselves again in an awkward silence.

"Well I suppose I should get going then, Cho's waiting." Mandy said, looking at Cedric.

"Yea me as well."

Mandy then turned and began walking down the hallway towards the Great Hall, when she realised someone was walking beside her. She turned to her right and found herself looking at Cedric Diggory. He had a small blush on his face, and smiling slightly.

"I realised we both needed to go to the dining hall."

Mandy returned the smile and the two headed to the Great Hall together, both thinking of what tonight's events would bring.


	6. Meeting in the Library

**A/N- Thanks for all of the great responses! I appreciate you taking the time to write back to me.**

**On another note, I have over 500 views for this story, and alas I only have 11 reviews. If you guys could take just a few seconds to review, I would REALLY appreciate it.**

**What can I say? I'm a review whore!**

**Well, here's the next chapter readers!**

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Mandy's rushed footsteps echoed off of the stone walls as she hurridly made her way to the library.

"You're late you twat! Late Late Late! What would your mum say about how despicable you are? Huh!" Erupted from Mandy's wrist.

"Bloody watch mind your own sodding business." Mandy growled.

"Touchy touchy…" It replied, clicking its invisible tongue.

Mandy rolled her eyes. "I'm conversing with a watch. Fantastic!"

The watch continued to throw insults at her, much to her annoyance.

Finally her eyes met the door to the library. She nervously held out her hand to open the door, pausing and taking a deep breath, and walked into the musty library.

"There's no reason to be nervous, it's just Landon…" She reassured herself, attempting to calm her jumpy nerves.

She had never been that great at talking with boys casually, especially when it seemed as if they might be remotely interested in her. Her team mates didn't count really, and this was an entirely different situation, she told herself.

She scanned the library with her eyes that were gently sweeping over the scene. The only things meeting her eyes were thousands of books, randomers in the library, the Granger girl who always hung out with Potter… and she found everything else, but she didn't see the familiar face that she was looking for.

She decided that he must be late as well, so she made her way to the large oak table in the far corner of the library.

Mandy sat down, still looking around the library in an attempt to find Landon. Her legs began to shake, a sure indicator of the nervousness she was feeling. Mandy put her hands on her thighs to steady them.

"Why am I so nervous anyway?" She asked herself.

She was looking at the patterns on the table, and the little comments etched into the aged wood, things that said "I love Christopher" "Snape is a gonk" Mandy laughed at herself, "that surely had to have been Cho who wrote that." she thought to herself. Still smiling, she heard the large library doors open.

She looked up, in hopes of seeing Landon. Instead, much to her surprise, her eyes fell upon Cedric Diggory, who was looking quite flustered; his chest rising and falling at a rapid speed, and hair tussled.

Cedric met her gaze, and gave a relieved smile.

Mandy was still sitting in her seat, wondering what the hell was going on as Cedric made his way over to her.

"Did I hear wrong? Was Cedric the one who was supposed to meet me here?" She asked herself as his steps brought him closer to where she was seated.

"Hi." He said softly. He looked slightly uncomfortable as he stood, his tall, slim frame moving restlessly.

He sat down across from her. After a few silent moments, Mandy asked, still attempting to still her now rapidly shaking legs, "Where's Landon?"

Cedric looked from the table to Mandy, "Oh, uh, he couldn't make it actually; he ended up getting detention today, so he asked if I could meet you so you didn't think he K.B.'d you or something." (A/N- "K.B.'d" stands for "knocked back" – or ditched.)

Cedric could sense her disappointment. "Oh, I see. Well, thanks for coming then." She said, giving a small and appreciative smile at Cedric.

Mandy gazed at his beautiful face. His lips were full but firm, his nose straight and perfect, his hair sun-streaked blond (from all of his time playing Quidditch, she figured) and his eyes, his gorgeous, wide-set, polished blue eyes were… staring right back at her!

She flushed in embarrassment, heat rising to her cheeks. "So…" he began, a small smile on his face, fully noticing Mandy staring at him only moments before.

Despite his small attempt at conversation, Mandy was still too mortified to say anything to Cedric, in turn silence was looming over them for the next few minutes, both students awkwardly sitting in the back of the library.

"I wanted to talk to you about something actually. Landon didn't really ask to meet you here." He admitted, startling Mandy by his sudden gesture.

"He didn't want to meet me? Then why…" She started inquiringly at Cedric's comment.

Cedric immediately cut her off. "I wanted to talk to you about… Cho."

This surprised Mandy a little, but she took an interest in what Cedric had said. "Oh?" She asked, trying to hide her disappointment.

Cedric began to look slightly flustered again.

"Yea… I wanted to know if maybe…" Cedric was fumbling with his words, unsure of what to say next.

Eventually the words escaped his mouth. "Oh, I donno, maybe if she likes me… or something?"

Mandy could sense the embarrassment Cedric was feeling. It was pretty obvious, even for the most ignorant types of people.

"If you promise you won't tell her I said this, then yes, she does fancy you." Mandy stated, hiding disappointment and feeling rather quite envious of her friend.

"Why am I feeling this way?" She asked. "I don't even like Cedric Diggory in that way. Plus, he likes Cho; Cho's my best friend, Cho likes Cedric. It's a whole bundle of mess that I can't really be bothered with." She said to herself.

Cedric was trying to think of words to say. He didn't actually expect such a blunt answer; he was neither overly excited nor extremely happy, like he probably would have been a week before. Before he met Mandy.

Now he simply felt slightly confused. "What should I do?" He asked.

"Do you think maybe I should ask her out then? As a girlfriend perhaps?" He finally asked.

Mandy reluctantly smiled, attempting to show happiness for her friend's new love interest. She began debating with herself. "Why should I help Cho out? I mean, she has never done this sort of thing for me before right? Who was it who got her onto the Quidditch team because of my connection with Roger Davies? What about the time where I saved her arse in the Magical Menagerie from that attack owl? No, I am going to do something for myself I'm going to…"

"Yea!" Mandy said, slightly clenching her fists under the table from frustration. "Of course you should!"

Cedric gave a small smile. Despite his modesty, he loved to hear that girls fancied him, or were interested in him, as Cho obviously fancied him through this tidbit of information.

Cedric and Mandy continued to sit in silence, looking at each other, both debating on what to do next, or who should make the first move.

Cedric was brave enough to step up. "Well…" he said, rising from his large seat. "I better get back to the common room, I still have a ton of homework I need to finish by tomorrow. It was fantastic talking to you! Oh… and thanks for all of your help Mandy." He said, giving her a large, appreciative grin.

"Yea, it's not a problem really." Mandy replied. Cedric gave one last nod to Mandy and then he casually strolled out of the room, opening the large library doors. She watched his retreating figure the entire time while he was making his way out of the library, listening to his steps echo off of the hallway walls after his departure.

She sighed, and got up from her own seat. She looked back onto the table where she had been sitting. "She found the "I love Christopher" that was etched into the wood.

She got out her own little pocket knife which she used for herbology, looking from the knife to the table, debating on what she should do. She made up her mind, and took the knife and lowered it to the table, crossing out the "Christopher." In its place, she wrote "Cedric."

Smiling to herself she put the small knife back into her robes, admiring her handywork. "I love Cedric" was on display on the ancient desk. Satisfied, she began to head for the doors.

Before she could make it out into the hallway, she stopped, looked back at the table, and then immediately ran back to where she had been sitting. She pulled out her knife once again, and scratched out the "Cedric," and then rushed out of the room, afraid of being seen.

"What the hell am I doing with my life?"


	7. Second Thoughts

**A/N Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait for this next chapter, but here it is finally!**

**I'll be going to Stirling this weekend for a pipes and drums competition, so I won't be able to update until after Monday sometime. Sorry!**

**Thanks to those who reviewed! I really appreciate it! I hope you guys enjoy this story and keep the reviews coming!**

**Love you all!**

**Hailey**

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A few days passed since Mandy and Cedric's meeting, and the entire school, much to Mandy's annoyance, were gossiping about the school's hottest new couple: Cho and Cedric.

Cedric had actually taken Mandy's advice, and asked Cho to be his girlfriend.

Mandy sat next to Roger Davies for breakfast, she would usually sit with Cho, but Cho was a bit too preoccupied with sitting next to her new boyfriend at the Hufflepuff table.

"Wanker." She thought to herself, glaring at the two from across the room.

Roger was talking to her animatedly, waving his arms about and what-not.

Mandy was stabbing her beans and toast, well, what looked like what _used_ to be beans and toast, and was mumbling words that one wouldn't normally hear in a casual and friendly conversation.

"…and that's why…. Mandy are you even listening to a word I'm saying?" Roger said mid-sentence, finally realising for the last twenty minutes he was pretty much having a conversation with himself.

"huh? Oh… yes Roger I completely agree with you." Mandy said, removing her hand from her fork, setting it on the table and attempting to look interested in what Roger had to say.

He was, after all, the only person who seemed disinterested in Cho and Cedric. She couldn't take any more questions from randomers. Her connection with Cho automatically had people swarm to her with questions.

It was like having a sign flashing above her head saying "I KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT THE NEW COUPLE! ASK ME! ASK ME!"

Those people made her want to stab her eyes out with her quill.

Roger gave her a questioning look. "You agree with the fact that I'm going to stay here for Chrimbols because my parents are going to Fiji without me?"

Mandy just looked at Roger for a few moments, feeling like a complete idiot.

She was in a situation where a teacher would ask you a question like "what is the main ingredient in a love potion" while you were busy daydreaming, and then you would then snap back to reality and say "seven."

Whoops.

"Oh, right. Sorry I was kind of out of it." She said apologetically.

"Yea I could tell. You had that glazed look in your eyes. I figured you were either high or daydreaming. I went with the latter." He said, a smile playing on his face.

Mandy smiled; relieved he wasn't upset at her lack of interest in his life.

"I'm sorry about your holiday, that's a bummer your parents aren't taking you to Fiji. I'll be here as well, my absolutely mad relatives are coming over and I decided to remove myself from that little reunion." Mandy grimaced, imagining her Aunt Bertha pinching her cheeks and then giving her a huge kiss on her forehead.

Mandy shivered.

Roger let out a laugh and said "Ah, that's horrible. Well I guess we'll have each other over this holiday then."

Mandy smiled. "Yea, we will. We'll party on down in the common room."

Roger laughed. "Sounds good."

"So…" Roger started, after a few minutes of silence. "Cho's with Diggory then?"

Mandy fists began to clench under the table.

"Yea, the happy couple have been together since Tuesday." She spat.

"Oh touchy touchy. I take it someone's not too happy about this new couple eh?"

"It's not that." Mandy said with a sigh. "I don't even know what it is. I feel bad, I should be happy for Cho you know? But gah. I don't know." She placed her head in her hands, and just shook her head in annoyance.

Roger frowned a bit; he never really understood the mind of a girl. He thought for a while about what would sound the best.

"I think you should get over it." He concluded.

Mandy glared at him.

"Whoops, probably wasn't the best thing to say." He said to himself.

"I mean…" he started. "Everything happens for a reason. I guess there's not much you can do abut it now but wait it out if you really don't want them to be together. But for right now, maybe the best thing to do is to try and at least _look _like you're happy for your best friend."

Mandy sighed. "Alright, fair enough."

She leaned her head on her chin, gazing across the room at Cedric and Cho.

From the Hufflepuff table, Cho was conversing heavily with Cedric.

Well, Cedric was trying to keep up with what Cho was saying, as it seemed as if there were a dozen people talking to him at once.

"…and that's why I don't like birds." She concluded.

Nodding his head in agreement, he said "Yea, I'm not much of a fan of birds either."

Cho had been talking his ear off ever since the beginning of breakfast. He had become increasingly annoyed. He hated girls who talked too much. And about pointless subjects as well. "Who gives a flying fuck about birds anyway?" He asked himself.

But he was Cedric, so he had to be polite. Damn those manners.

Why did he even ask her out? Three days into the relationship and he was already getting tired of his girlfriend. What was the point in doing this? Was he trying to accomplish anything in asking her out?

He looked to the Ravenclaw table. Mandy was having a conversation with Roger sodding Davies.

Cedric had never been very fond of Roger. If you hadn't noticed already.

He noticed that Mandy was looking quite interested in what Roger was saying.

He watched her, laughing with Roger, placing on of her hands on his shoulder, the other across her chest. She obviously found one of his jokes humourous.

Cedric could feel this little pang in his chest as he looked at the two.

"I'm not jealous. I, am not jealous." He repeated to himself.

However even he knew that saying it over and over again to himself wouldn't make it true.

"Ceddy? Hey Cedric are you even listening to me?" Cho said, slightly shaking Cedric's shoulders.

"Yea, sorry." Coming out of is reverie.

"I was just thinking about something."

Cho looked at him for a few moments. "Alright then." She said.

Cedric watched as Mandy got up from the table, Roger following closely behind.

He watched her walk with him out of the huge doors, heading off to class.

"Hey Cho, I better go, I should get to class, I had a question to ask Professor Binns." Cedric said to her.

"Oh okay." She said, looking slightly disappointed. "If you must." She smiled and gave him a kiss.

Cedric returned a half-ass smile and got up from the table, grabbing his bag in the process.

He nodded to Landon, who was conversing with the beaters of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. Landon smiled, and quickly removed himself from the conversation and joined Cedric out of the Great Hall.

"Hey man what's the rush? Thought you'd be trying to spend as much time with Cho as possible." He said, giving his friend a little nudge on his arm.

Cedric sighed, shaking his head. "I don't know what it is. I don't know how much I can take of Cho's personality. She's just so…" He stalled, trying to figure the best way to describe his situation. "Excited? About everything I guess."

"Yea, her and Mandy are quite the couple. I never understood their friendship. Mandy seems to be a little bit more reserved." Landon said.

"Exactly! I don't like the girls who are always saying something because they're afraid of silence. I like comfortable quietness, where the girl doesn't assume she has to make a huge effort to say something in order to be interesting. Cho's nice, no doubt about that. She's great. But Mandy… she's good."

Landon stopped walking, looking inquisitively at his friend. "Wait. Are you comparing Cho and Mandy? Are you interested in Mandy or something?" He asked.

Cedric looked at his friend, unsure of what to say in response. He couldn't lie… Landon would know in an instant.

After a few seconds Cedric finally began to answer. "Yea. I guess I am. I don't know what it is Landon, Mandy just seems to interest me a bit more than Cho."

Landon nodded, showing his understanding in what his friend was saying.

"Then why are you the one who is dating Cho and not Mandy?" He asked.

Cedric was unsure of how to answer.

"Why am I dating Cho and not Mandy?" He said to himself.


	8. The Plan

**Hello hello my friends. I know it's been a God awful long time since I wrote anything, I was in the midst of A-Levels, graduation, summer hols, and now Uni. Ah yes, I am officially and adult now whoo! So sorry I haven't updated.**

**Here's the new chapter, not as wonderful as I would've liked it, but eh that's life right? I promise it will get better. R&R and enjoy mates!**

**Hailey**

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The next morning, if you really want to call it that seeing how it was bleeding four o'clock in the morning and the sun hadn't even risen yet, Mandy found herself staring at her ceiling deep in thought. 

The quiet sounds of her roommate's breathing reverberated off the walls, Mandy's jealously rising with each breath at the fact that they were in the middle of great sleep while she was just laying there thinking about sodding boys.

For the past three hours, after only a half hour of sleep, Mandy had been thinking of different ways to distract herself from Cedric, and his flourishing relationship with Cho.

Three hours later, the sun finally rising, Mandy had made up her mind. She knew what she had to do to make everything right in the world again.

_"WAKE UP YOU BLOODY MUNTERS! IT'S THE MORNING AND YOU DON'T WANT TO BE LATE FOR BREKKIE YOU FAT BIRDS!"_

"Why in the hell do you keep that bloody watch Chambers!" a muffled yell came from one of her roommates, followed by a pillow thrown in Mandy's direction.

"Oy! I know you're not a morning person Danielle, but really, if you don't like my watch then get a new one for me for Chrimbols because I can't really cannot be bothered at the moment to do it myself."

A small "lazy son of bitch" could be heard from under the covers across the room.

Mandy smiled, as she knew dear Danielle would forget about this incident in the next 10 minutes as she had this horrible curse which caused her to have blackouts. One of the Slytherines cursed her when she was in 2nd year, and no one seemed to find a countercurse poor thing. Although it _was_ quite nice from time to time, but everyone felt sorry for poor Danielle when it came time to do her homework.

10 minutes later, sure enough Danielle forgot what had happened and Mandy and Cho were heading down the stairs to the dining hall.

"So how are things with you and Cedric?" Mandy managed to say with every bit of interest in her tone.

With this, a smile erupted on Cho's face. It made Mandy's heart melt seeing her friend so happy, she knew what she was going to do was for the better.

"It's great! He's just such a wonderful boy… man…. Urgh whatever you want to call him he's adorable!" Cho said, a huge smile plastered onto her cute little Asian face.

"Aw well that's good, I'm so happy everything worked out between you two." Mandy said.

"Yea! And all thanks to you for going on that date with us last weekend!" she said giddily.

"She reminds me of a little toddler jacked up on sugar." Mandy thought to herself.

Shaking this thought from her mind, Mandy rolled her eyes, a habit that had been recently stolen from Cho's mannerisms. "I told you, it was not a date, and whatev, it was just something I could do to help out my bestie."

Mandy and Cho turned as they heard loud and quick footsteps erupting on the stairs behind them. Roger appeared, hair ruffled and a silly smile playing on his face.

"Hey you!" Mandy said with a flirtatious smile.

"Hey Mandy, Cho. How are you all this lovely Monday morning?" He asked.

"Oh Merlin, it _is_ Monday isn't it. Tragic." Cho said depressingly, her head falling back with closed eyes, praying to whatever was in the sky.

Mandy could tell by all of her years of knowing Cho that she was saying some very colourful language in her mind. Guess it wasn't a prayer.

Despite Mandy clearly knowing what was going on in Cho's brain, she said in a playful voice, "well looks like someone has the case of the Mondays…" knowing it would annoy Cho. But eh, they're best friends, they get over things fast. Just like Danielle and her wee blackouts.

Mandy grabbed Cho's cheeks with both of her palms and wiggled her nose in her face in order to add a little bit of exaggeration into the wonderful moment they were experiencing at 7:30 in the morning.

"Gah! Get off me you mad bird! Lord almighty why the hell are you such a morning person?" Cho said while yanking Mandy's arms away, but laughing all the same.

Roger was just kind of standing there, wondering why the hell women were so weird.

Moving on from the usual playful situation she was having with Cho, Mandy asked "Cho would you mind if I had a private word with Roger for a moment?" With a small laugh from the previous situation.

Cho gave her friend a curious glance, mirroring Roger's as well, but nodded obediently and said "sure, I'll save you a seat."

Roger and Mandy watched Cho leave, and Roger turned his head with a knowing smile. "So what is this all about Chambers? Want to know more about some quidditch moves?"

Mandy softly laughed. "Ah no, actually. I wanted to know what you were doing tonight?"

Roger looked at her curiously and with a somewhat shocked expression, but continued on anyway.

"Nothing, actually, probably just doing some homework or something, why do you ask?"

Mandy smiled up at him. "I was just wondering if you would like do some of our homework together perhaps? I've been enjoying your company and wanted to hang out. Plus I feel I need to make up for the fact that I turned down your invitation to go to Hogsmeade a few days ago."

Roger returned the smile, "of course, that would be great."

With that, the continued their walk to the great hall.

"Alright…" Mandy said to herself. "Phase one has begun."

**

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Was it tragic? I apologise heavily if it was. But, eh I tried! It was also quite short. I'll had more length for the next chapter.**


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